Why a content audit can do wonders for SEO and website migration

Dan

Daniel is our content guru. His keen eye for detail and natural flare for language translate strongly across all digital channels.

May 12, 2016

3 minute read

Content auditing is our bread and butter.

We’ve been in the industry a long time now and conducted a content audit or two, so we know the usual business scenario well. Your website is in desperate need of a revamp, yet the path to get it there seems fraught with danger and complication.

First you need to minimise any risks faced throughout the design, construction and site migration stages to ensure a smooth transition. Content, and certainly a content audit, is often an afterthought.

Know your purpose

Fast forward and let’s say you’ve just landed yourself a sleek new site at the cutting edge of design and user experience – one that really makes your brand sing. But after all that hard work, nothing wrecks the performance of your new platform faster than populating it with the same dated, ungainly content from your previous site.

Remember that the real purpose for a new site isn’t just to look nice and pretty; this is your most important piece of marketing collateral when it comes to achieving higher levels of traffic, higher user engagement and higher conversions.

Markets, customer trends and company objectives are constantly changing, which is why top businesses conduct a comprehensive audit of their site every year or so to ensure their expert content, communications and brand messaging are up to date and firing on all cylinders.

The real business cost of poor content

Gripping visitors from the moment they land on the site is enough to affirm the need for a content audit, true. But what businesses don’t tend to consider is that poorly formed content is the equivalent of poison for search engine rankings.

What do we mean by poor content?

No clear purpose for web pages

Key messages worded and presented weakly

Brand USPs not reinforced

Inconsistent formatting

Frequent typos

All of this has a huge impact on a website’s visibility, search rankings and, of course, user experience. These faults don’t inspire trust, whether that’s from potential customers or search engines.

Strong content = strong website

Powerful, carefully crafted content that is search engine friendly has an unparalleled influence on website performance.

In the digital age, in-depth online market and keyword research is so important to lay the foundation for consistent messaging across all pages. After that it’s about fine-tuning tone of voice and presentation with a specific target audience in mind. You should be speaking to people’s hearts as well as their heads.

Your next content audit – time for a scale and polish?

Like your next dentist appointment, a full-scale audit probably isn’t the most alluring of duties but that doesn’t make it any less essential.

Not only does this approach cement brand vision and values on every page and grip visitors from the moment they land on the site, it ultimately forms a rich tapestry of archived content for Google and other search engines to trawl and validate.

This is what makes a website stand out in the search results and opens the door to more and more potential customers. Make sure to greet them with killer content that’s always on-brand and puts your expertise firmly in the spotlight.